A research group just published the findings of its recent study, showing how Google had been placing ads on a number of websites promoting fake news about the coronavirus pandemic and 5G networks. The study pointed out how despite Google's efforts to curb conspiracy theories and fake news from YouTube and its search services, the company may be unintentionally funding the content it is trying to get rid of.
Google is currently one of the more aggressive online tech companies that is implementing measures to stop the spread of false information, which is deemed by some experts as equally infectious and dangerous as the coronavirus itself. However, the study showed that Google may be inadvertently helping the owners of fake news websites generate revenue for spreading false information.
According to the report published by The Global Information index, it found a Microsoft 365 backup service ad on a website that features an article claiming that Microsoft founder Bill Gates is part of a world domination plot that involved the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The study involved a review of 49 websites that published conspiracy theory articles about the coronavirus, 84 percent of which had Google's ads placed on them.
The research firm estimates that Google may have paid out around $135,000 in earnings to the websites' owners each month since the start of the year. The topics published on the websites ranged from false claims of how 5G mobile networks cause coronavirus to claims about how governments are suppressing the release of a Covid-19 vaccine.
In response to the recently published report, Google stated that the websites mentioned by the research firm did not violate its content policies. Google spokeswoman, Christa Muldoon, mentioned in a statement that the company is committed to protecting its users from medical misinformation.
The program director at the research firm, Craig Fagan, noted that Google needs to tackle this issue immediately as it is creating a financial incentive for people to put up these kinds of fake news websites. Every time someone reads an article on these types of sites, the owners earn money, prompting them to publish more clickbait fake information.
This isn't the first time Google had been implicated in supporting websites that spread false or controversial information. The company has faced heightened scrutiny from regulators and government agencies over its funding of controversial sites and video streaming channels. Despite the criticisms, Google had previously stated that it does not want to impose blanket policies on which publishers can run its ads. Currently, the company does allow advertisers to blacklist specific sites and it does have a mechanism in place that automatically removes ads from pages containing content that violates its policies.
